A Lover's Paradise.

Had an enjoyable walkabout at The Singapore Jurong Bird Park with some great friends. Even birds are in love. And Emperor Penguins are monogamous - serially that is. Meaning, they change mate only once a year during their mating season. Just one of the interesting facts I know while watching a movie. Can't really recall which movie that was though. I particularly enjoyed the Penguin's enclosure at the bird park. They are just so fun to watch and they look really adorable. A sea of black and white. Of course, the central air conditioning was a great incentive to stay in the enclosure a little longer! The weather that day was just horridly scorching.

A walkabout with a few close friends was really nice. Something we seldom do for the longest time. Waking up early, visiting a tourist attraction, walking under the sun, sweating it out, getting in tune with Nature. Yeah definitely something we haven't done for the longest time! Oh well, but no regrets. We definitely did have fun and with the company I am keeping, I was glad to be myself.It is no secret, that it is important to do things and go out with friends that you are oh so comfortable with. It keeps me grounded and let me appreciate the comfort zone and familiarity that I am blissfully wrapped in.

Fotocology for SQUEEZE Juice Co.

Had the most wonderful time doing the product photography for SQUEEZE. Basically involving a simple shoot for a range of fruit juices, ice blends, chillers and fruittie yoghurt drinks. Of course, I had the awesome treat of tasting all the drinks after each of them has been photographed. Running the risk and fear of a sugar rush and perennial glucose pile up in my internal system, I of course took moderate sips for each of them (I swear)!My favourites are probably the durian milkshake and the tangerine tango!

I am glad we decided on a really clean and simple shoot for the products instead of dressing it up with fruits and backdrop etc. I managed to convince them that the target consumers are not of the high end nor really low end range. Somewhere in between. So keeping it simple, classy and yet no frills will seem appropriate based on the ways these images can be used. A series of collaterals, vouchers, the signboard, standees, all will be conveniently done up by SQUEEZE using these images. With the right color palette, right fonts and layout, the images will defintely serve the client well.

I just feel that Fotocology, as a photography and deisgn platform, has the responsibility to advise clients on the project at hand. That way, we don;t come across only as a photographer that just points and shoots. And that, we actually would have thought about the shoot at hand, give our thoughts and achievening an equilibrium between a client's vision as well as our creative capabilities.

On a side note, am feeling more energized after the one week hiatus from pictures and pictures and more pictures. Been laying a little low, almost laid back and resting most of the time. But I am back on my feet, after which, I will have to start planning for things and setting things into motion again. Guess its always a cycle and one just needs to learn how to pace. But you know what, I guess I am ready to run a race when I need to and also ready to stop and smell the flowers along the way when I have to walk.

Gourmet Photography. The Garden Slug Cafe. My First Exhibition.

And just not too long ago, Sophia from The Garden Slug Cafe played gourmet chef and specially designed a few kick-ass dishes for my food photography. We certainly did have a great time at the supermarket, shopping for the freshest of ingredients and also learning a thing or two from the veteran food director! Also, we did find time for a nice cuppa at Starbucks and catching up a little!

It was great hearing her share about the ups and downs of running a business and dealing with naysayers and all. Of course, its been almost two years plus and the Garden Slug Cafe is still around with the great leadership of Joseph, Sophia and Sharon slugs! I do say, all three of them deserve a pat on their shoulders for this great "gardening" effort! I am glad we became great friends with the same values to share and all working towards the same "cause"!

Fotocology started only a few months shortly after the cafe commenced business. And it all started in that little quaint cafe at Telok Kurau Lorong L! I was fiddling with my new camera before Sharon came up and say, "Hey! You wanna do an exhibition here?" And that's how Fotocology took its first baby step and never really did look back. I did a series of portraitures in black and white as my debut for the exhibition. It was titled Sons. The notion being, we are all someone's son/daughter and we all have a role to play in this society of ours.

Oh man, it just brings about so much to smile about. My good friend, Jonathan from KL, was my poster boy for the exhibition I still remember! He was so gleeful about it! I probably will find time to dig out the official poster and put it up here just for good time's sake! Thank you Sluggies for opening up such a huge beautiful world for me in the realm of photography!

Fotocology for Cambridge University Press - Guest of Honour PM Lee Hsien Loong.

It was a great honour being commissioned to cover the event for the anniversary celebration of Cambridge University as well as the Cambridge University Press, held at The Raffles Hotel. Fotocology had the privilege of being the official photographer for the event thanks to the recommendation of Emeric.

The evening was graced by the presence of our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was aptly the Guest-of-Honour being a Cambridge alunmni himself. The event saw the likes of many prominent leaders as well as movers and shakers of Singapore. It was inspiring as well hearing the PM deliver his speech, albeit, about the university, and yet bringing in many issues that were relevant to the society as a whole.

The amount of security involved to ensure the safety of the PM, turning up for the event was an eye-opener by itself. We had police, security and bodyguards making sure every nook and cranny of the hotel, which the PM will walk by is covered. I had to be body-searched twice to be able to gain access as the photography media for the event.

Being up close with such an important political figure with my lens was indeed an unique experience for me. You could say, while Yijie helped me cover the eent in its entirety, I was in a way tasked to take photos of the PM throughout the entire event. Apart from JJ Lin, the PM was the man I took the most number of photos of with my camera!

It was all in all a great experience and yet another foundation block for Fotocology.
It was also a great opportunity for me to catch up with Emeric during the event.
I managed to catch up with Gabriel, an old army friend during my OCS days too, for he was a Cambridge alumni.

Good times. Good times.

Fotocology For JJ Lin Concert World Tour 2009

Fotocology was happy to be commissioned as the official photographer for JJ Lin's Concert 2009 held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in March. We had a wonderful time following through the rehearsals as well as the concert proper. JJ, Alien and I were all from SAJC and Alien was my junior in the band during that time. We all had a good time catching up a little prior to the concert. Good to know everyone is definitely doing what they love. JJ is a superstar. Alien is a music producer with Touch Music. And me, well, just a photographer! *gulps*

Anyway, Fotocology did work their asses off for the project and we are proud of it! Yijie was the best assistant we had and I am glad we managed to pull this off! Shoot wise, I particularly love a shot of By2 that I captured. Thought one of the girls encapsulated a great moment of style and showmanship. The By2 twins were the opening act for the concert and I thought its quite apt for Singapore youngest pop singing duo to do so! Guest singer was Fan Fan, whom I had a chance to talk to backstage. She said I was a handsome photographer. *blush* Anyway, it was my first time hearing her perform live, and I have to say she was great live. Her voice was more powerful than what you hear on her albums. Kudos.

Now, a little trivia. My computer crashed while I was editing the concert photos. And fate has it that I did not back up my work that week because I was so busy. Which kinda meant, I had to start from scratch. Fortunately, all raw files have been handed to Ocean Butterflies Singapore, Taiwan and China. So the edited versions can wait. But I spent so much time and effort editing them and now I have to start all over again! Bummed out. But I think with Life, setbacks like these, just makes you want to bounce back harder.

Here's to more concert converages and more capture of special moments. Something, Fotocology firmly believes in.

Wedding Of Eric And Daisy.

Fotocology had the great pleasure of being the wedding photographer of Eric and Daisy. It was a a day spent, capturing many special moments that this newly wed couple has to offer.

Perhaps, not at liberty to divulge here, but the journey both of them had together has not exactly been a bed of roses. Hearing from Daisy, what she had gone through, and how Eric has always been there for her, was definitely touching and stirred something within me. Catching up with her, a few months after the wedding, and being able to learn about all the life stories about what she had faced, it was just sheer admiration seeing her speak of all the sadness with so much optimism and strength.

Of course, it was also gratifying to know that they both loved the photos that captured their happy day. Huge thank you to Yijie for being my assistant for the whole day and really sweating it out with me. A shoutout to Andrew who did such a wonderful job with the video montage as well. I do feel happy that Fotocology has played a part in making it special for this couple. Finally, a milestone after 7 years of being together. Here's wishing you a guys, eternal bliss, by the grace of God.

Picking up where I left off.

And so, it took me a really long while to come back to furnish this blog.
Partly because there was this inertia to do so, with work and all.
But I am glad I finally found the energy and will to pick up where I left it.

Fotocology has experienced alot and had come so far over the last 2 years.
I regretfully did not manage to share this wonderful journey on this blog.
But well, I am hoping to do so now, albeit in the most low-key manner possible.

The livejournal that I have, has almost become rather impersonal.
I am hoping, quietly starting this here will allow me more creative space and fluidity.

Lastly, a big thank you to everyone who has shown me endless support ever since I started. Your words of encouragement have been nothing less than a pillar of strength for me. I can still remember the doubts and skeptical opinions of many others who did not think I could ever venture into something like this.

But I think with life, there will always be the push and the pull factors. We cannot aim to please everybody. And why should we?
I have learnt to just be able to account to myself, strive with a clear conscience. And definitely with due diligence to be able to be good at what I do.

Here's to a fresh start.